PURPOSE. Anhedonia is a challenging symptom
of schizophrenia and remains largely recalcitrant
to current pharmacological treatments. The goal
of this exploratory pilot study was to assess if a
cognitive–sensory intervention could improve
anticipatory pleasure.
DESIGN AND METHODS. Five participants
meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text
Revision) criteria for schizophrenia, presenting
severe anhedonia and stabilized on atypical
antipsychotic medication, received between 10
hours and 25 hours of training.
FINDINGS. Results show that the patients
improved on the anticipatory scale of the
Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale. Daily
activities of the patients were also increased.
PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. These preliminary data
need to be interpreted with caution given the
small sample of the study, but they offer
promising paths to develop new interventions to
alleviate anhedonia in schizophrenia.